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A vaccine to treat ALK+ lung cancer and prevent metastatic disease

Tyrosine kinase inhibitors that target anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) have greatly improved the survival of patients with ALK-rearranged non-small-cell lung cancer, but they are insufficient to achieve a complete cure. A newly developed vaccine elicited a strong immune response specifically against ALK that eradicated primary tumors and prevented the onset of metastatic disease in mice.

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Fig. 1: The ALK vaccine cures ALK+ NSCLC tumors in mice and prevents their metastatic spread.

References

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Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This is a summary of: Mota, I. et al. ALK vaccination restores the immunogenicity of ALK-rearranged non-small cell lung cancer. Nat. Cancer https://doi.org/10.1038/s43018-023-00591-2 (2023).

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A vaccine to treat ALK+ lung cancer and prevent metastatic disease. Nat Cancer 4, 933–934 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43018-023-00592-1

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